BOU AVENUEMount Stevens And Teepee Mountain
Following the route description found
here, Dinah Kruze, Bob Spirko and I ascended Mount Stevens and Teepee
Mountain near Wasa, British Columbia (BC) on 31 July 2010. Staying
the previous night at a hotel in Fernie, BC, we had no issues finding the
trailhead which is accessible by 2WD vehicle. As usual, Bob set a
relentless pace up the very steep trail which was just as well since
there was very little to see beyond the forest for the first couple of
hours. We eventually broke through tree line, but with hardly a breath of
wind, I probably sweated out half my body weight by the time we reached
the crest of the ridge leading to the top of Mount Stevens. After a short
rest at the summit, we continued across the connecting ridge to Teepee
Mountain. The route is less defined here but still easy to follow.
Distant rumblings of thunder prompted us to keep our stay at Teepee
Mountain's summit short, and we more or less retraced our steps back over
Mount Stevens. Our descent through the trees seemed interminable, and I
probably sweated out the other half of my body weight by the time we
returned to the trailhead. After showering and getting changed back at
our hotel in Fernie, we went out for what would be the true highlight of
the day--a fantastic dinner at a little-known restaurant called
Mezzaluna.

The ridge crest south of Mount Stevens grants a view of the Diorite Creek
valley.

Bob and Dinah reach the 2655-metre summit of Mount Stevens.

Dinah relaxes beside the summit cairn of Mount Stevens.

Bob and Dinah head toward Teepee Mountain.

This is Teepee Mountain as seen from
the connecting ridge.

Here is a closer look at Teepee Mountain from further along the
connecting ridge.

Bob and Dinah make the final push to the summit of Teepee Mountain.

A ptarmigan sits quietly not far from the summit of Teepee Mountain.

Sonny, Bob and Dinah stand on the 2797-metre summit of Teepee
Mountain.

An iron cross near the summit of Teepee Mountain memorializes a local ski
mountaineer.

This is the view to the north of various unnamed ridges in the Hughes
Range.

To the northeast is Mount Wirth.
The 1980 NTS map (Skookumchuck 82G/13 Edition 3) and Bivouac.com
designate the peak at centre (2759 metres) as Mount Wirth. In
contrast,
Toporama and Garmin's 2009 Topo Canada (v4) designate the peak at
left (2657 metres) as Mount Wirth.

Thunderstorms brew over Mount Harrison at far left. On the right is
Mount Mike.

This is looking east into
Top of the World Provincial Park. Mount Morro is the peak at right with the streaks of snow. At far right
on the distant horizon is Mount Washburn.

Here is a closer look at Mount Morro (right).

Empire State Peak pokes above an intervening ridge to the southeast.

In this view to the south, all map sources designate the low bump at
far right as being Mount Bill Nye. Bivouac.com actually
designates both the large peak at centre and the low bump as two
separate peaks but sharing the same name of Mount Bill Nye!

Furthermore, the lower peak at left is officially not Lakit
Mountain. All map sources designate a lower northwest outlier
(not visible here) as being Lakit Mountain while Bivouac.com
designates a lower southwest outlier (also not visible here) as the
official peak.

Also visible to the south are the
north end of The Steeples (far left) and
Mount Fisher.

This is looking south toward Mount
Stevens from the upper slopes of Teepee Mountain.